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News from the New York State and Local Retirement System

Tag Archives: PFRS Tier 5

NYSLRS, comprised of the Employees’ Retirement System (ERS) and Police and Fire Retirement System (PFRS), had 652,324 members as of March 31, 2017. Our members are State, local government and school district employees from across New York, including 617,143 in ERS and 35,181 in PFRS. Eighty-one percent of our members are active, which means they were on a public payroll as of March 31.

As new public employees come on board and more Tier 3 and 4 members reach retirement age, Tier 6 is expected to represent the majority of NYSLRS members in a few years.

Tier 6 includes members who joined NYSLRS since April 1, 2012. In just five years, they’ve grown to more than 174,000 members, making up 26.7 percent of total membership.

Here’s a look at our membership by Tier, as of March 31:Tier 1: NYSLRS’ oldest tier, whose members first joined the system before July 1, 1973 (July 31 for PFRS members). Tier 1 now represents only one half of 1 percent of our membership. There are only 54 Tier 1 PFRS members remaining.

Tier 2: With 29,186 members, Tier 2 represents 4.5 percent of membership. More than 87 percent of Tier 2 members are in PFRS.

Tier 3&4: Tiers 3 and 4, which have similar retirement plans, represented nearly 90 percent of membership just seven years ago. The 392,699 Tier 3 and 4 members now make up 60 percent of the total. (Note: There is no Tier 4 in PFRS.)

Tier 5: Tier 5 covers members who joined in a period of a little over two years (January 2010 through March 2012). With 53,118 members, Tier 5 now represents 8.1 percent of membership.

Tier 6: This tier covers both ERS and PFRS members who joined since April 1, 2012. Its ranks have grown by nearly 29 percent over the past year.

When you join the New York State and Local Retirement System (NYSLRS), you’re assigned a tier based on the date of your membership. There are six tiers in the Employees’ Retirement System (ERS) and five in the Police and Fire Retirement System (PFRS). Each tier has a different benefit structure established by New York State legislation. Our series, NYSLRS — One Tier at a Time, walks through each tier to give you a quick look at the benefits in both ERS and PFRS.

Today’s final post in our series looks at Tier 5 in the Police and Fire Retirement System. Anyone who joined PFRS from January 9, 2010 through March 31, 2012­ is in Tier 5. There are 1,731 PFRS Tier 5 members as of March 31, 2015, making them the third largest tier group in PFRS.If you’re a PFRS Tier 5 member, you can find your retirement plan publication from the list below for more detailed information about your benefits: